Tool for spinning eyelets from one side



Feb. 19, 1957' A. s. CASWELL' TOOL. FOR SPINNING EYELETS FROM ONE SIDE Filed Sept. 4, 1953 Uflied Sate 2,781,934 roonron SPINNING EYELETSVITRQM ONE suns Arthur s. Caswell, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor m I-T-E Circuit Breaker Company, Philadelphia, Pa. Application September 4, 1953, Serial No. 37 8,624 '1 Claim. (Cl. 2l8-38) My invention relates to a tool for flaring or spinning v tect .electrical wires when they are passed through sheet metal. However, rubber, grommets have the disadvantage of drying out or deteriorating with age, can not be inserted until after the wires are placed through the components, are bulky and expensive.

With my novel arrangement, I replace rubber grommets by using brass eyelets which are pre-fla'red or spun at one end. Thus, the hollow cylindrical eyelet can be inserted from the accessible side of the wall.

With my novel tool for spinning thebrass eyelet, the inaccessible non-flared end of the eyelet can be flared or spun into engagement with the inaccessible. side of the wall.

The novel tool of my invention is comprised of a motor driven shaft having a curved or bent end which may be inserted from the accessible side of the sheet metal wall containing the brass eyelet. y

'By means of a cam arrangement operated and controlled from the accessible side of the sheet metal wall, the curved portion of the motor driven shaft can be brought into engagement with-thenon-flared end of the eyelet thereby spinning same'into engagement with the inaccessible side of the sheet metal wall.

Accordingly, a primary "object of my invention is to provide a novel tool for flaring eyelets from one side.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a toolarrangement having a motor drivenshaft ;which can be cam controlled from the accessible side of a sheet metal wall in such a manner that it can perform flaring operations on the end of an eyelet which is po- Figure 1 is a side view of my novel flaring tool. This figure illustrates the tool inserted through the accessible side of the sheet metal wall and illustrates the position of the various parts of the tool prior to the commencement of the flaring operation.

Figure 2 is a view taken in the direction of the arrows 2-2 of Figure l and illustrates the manner in which the handle straddles the main portion of the tool so as to eifect proper camming operation.

Figure 3 is a partial view of Figure land illustrates the position of the flaring portion of the motor driven shaft after the handle of the flaring tool has been moved to cam this member into engagement with the inaccessible end of the eyelet.

Figure 4 is a view taken along the plane 4-4 and looking in the direction of the arrows 4-4 of Figure l.

The metal sheet wall 16 is provided with openings 17 through which electrical wires are to be passed. However, in order to protect the insulation of the electrical 2,781,934 t ee'i mte'e 195 2 wires from the rough surfaces of the sheet metalwall; it is necessary to provide some means to surround the circumference of'the opening '17. Heretoforeythis surface was protected by means of rubber gronimet's. With my'present invention, brass eyelets are used insteadof rubbengrommets." i i It is assumed that the side not the sheet metal wall 16 is accessible and that the side 20 of the sheet metal wall 16 is'inaccessible. Thus, due to the'inability to flare the portion of the eyelet which extends on the inacces- 'sible'side 20 of the sheet metal wall 16, metal eyelets have not heretofore been used. However, with the novel-'tdol of my invention, it is possible to gain 'access to the opening 17 through the side 19 of thesheet metalwall and still flare the end of the eyelet 18 which exists on the inaccessible side 20 of the wall'16.- 1 2' The eyelet used in connection with the novel tool of my invention has its end 21 flared prior to the time that it is inserted in the opening 17. The metal eyelet 18 is inserted in the opening 17 withthe' flared portion 21 engaging the accessible side 19 of the sheet metal wall 16. The novel portable tool of my invention enables the operator to flare the portion 22" of 'the metal eyelet 18 even though this portion exists on the inaccessible side 20 of the sheet metal wall 16. Y

The tool which achieves this is as follows: A'motor 11 is operatively connected to the motor driven shaft 19 which extends for the entire length of the tool and has a bent portion 12 atits free end." A rollermember 13 may be secured tothe'be nt end 12 by m'eansof the nut 14 which is in threaded engagement with the 'step down extension 15. g

The shaftlfl is 'providedwith a stop means or nut 25 which is rigidly secured to "the shaft' forreasons'whicli will be hereinafter more fully described.

A hollow cylindrical sleeve 26 is slidably mounted 'relativeto the shaft 10 and has a cross-sectional-area which is preferably square or rectangular so that 'th'e sleeve 26 remainsstationary during the rotation 'of the shaft 10. A ball bearing 27, axially rotatably mounted ontheshaft 10, is sandwiched between the sleeve'26 and the stop means or nut 25. The nut 25 is th'readably secured to shaft 10 androtatestherewith. e The cam control handle 28 of the tool is comprised of members 30 and 31which straddle the sleeve 26, as best seen in the side view of Figure 2. The handle 28 is pivotally secured tothe sleeve 26 by means of the pins 32 and 33. Thus, it will be noted that the shaft 10 will have rotational and linear motion with respect to the sleeve 26 and the handle 28, and the handles 28 will have motion around the pivot 32-33 with respect to the sleeve26. The cam surface 60 limits the clockwise rotation of the cam handle 28 with respect to sleeve 26.

The internally hollow cylindrical sleeve 34 is also slidably mounted on the shaft 10 and is rotatable with respect thereto. The cross-sectional area of the sleeve 34 is preferably square or rectangular. This sleeve is provided with round cam engaging members 35-36 which are rotatably mounted on each side thereof. These discs 35-36 are secured to the sleeve 34 by means of the pins 45-46, respectively.

The cam surfaces 37-38 of the levers 30-31, respectively, of the handle 28 are in friction engagement with the discs 35-36.

A die 40 is secured to one end of the sleeve 34. The die 40 is provided with a circular cut away portion 41 to receive the flared end 21 of the eyelet 18. Thus, when the tool is inserted through the accessible side 19 of the sheet metal wall 16, the die 40 will hold and maintain the eyelet 18 in the position indicated.

After the tool has been inserted, the operator can then manually move the handle 28 in a counterclockwise direction around the pivot 32-33, thereby causing the cam surfaces 3738 to ride on the stationary discs 35-36,

respectively.

Sincethe distance between the pivot 32 and the point A on the handle 31 is less than the distance between the pivot 32 and the point B, a counterclockwise rotation of the handle 28 will result in the movement of the entire handle 28, the sleeve 26, the stop means 25 and the shaft downwardly. That is, since the sleeve 34 and die 40 are buttressed against stationary metal sheet wall 16, the camming action between the handle 28 and the cams 35--36 will resultin the downward movement of the entire tool. This motion will thereby bring the roller tool 13 into engagement with the unflared end 22 of the eyelet 18, as best seen in Figure 3.

Since the shaft 10 is being driven about its own axis, the curved end 12 and the roller tool 13 will also be rotating and due to their engagement with end 12 of the eyelet 18, will flare this end so that it will be brought flush against the inaccessible side of the metal sheet wall 16.

After the inaccessible end 22 has been flared so that it is in engagement with the surface 16, the handle 28 may then be rotated clockwise around the pivot 22. Since the engagement of the cam surface will thereby be changed from point B to point A, the entire tool will be moved upwardly. That is, even though the sleeve 34 and the die 40 will remain stationary, the shaft 10 and the stop means 25, the bearing 27, the sleeve 26, the handle 28 and the rounded end 12--13 of the shaft 10, will all be moved upwardly to the position seen in Figure 1.

Since the inserted eyelet 18 is now flared on both the accessible and inaccessible side of the metal plate wall 16, the tool can now be removed from the opening 17.

The sleeves 26 and 34 may be provided with members 61 and 62, respectively, which may be threadably secured thereto. The outer ends of members 61 and 62 have openings to receive and hold the ends of spring 63. The a spring 63 is strong enough to maintain the roller against the surface A of cam 37. That is, the. spring 63 is strong enough to return all cooperating parts such as the sleeves to an open or free position of Figure 1 from the position of Figure 2 after the operator has removed operating force from the handle 28. In this open free or free position of Figure 1, the roller 13 and die are held apart for easy positioning of the eyelet 18 on the die 40 and for inserting eyelet 18 and spinning roller 13 into the hole 17 in the plate 16. Thus, the eyelet and tool can easily be placed in proper position due to the position of the parts by spring 63 and does not require the use of handle 28 for this purpose. Accordingly, the spring, by holding the parts in the proper position at all times, makes it easier to handle and use the tool.

Thus, it is now apparent that with my novel flaring tool, it is possible to utilize metallic eyelets in metal sheet walls through which electrical conductors have to pass even though one side of the wall may be inaccessible. Thus, my invention provides a novel arrangement wherein even though all of the control operating parts of the flaring tool are positioned and operative on the accessible side of the wall, it is possible to flare the portion of an insert eyelet which is on the inaccessible side of the metal wall.

in the foregoing, l have described my invention only in connection with preferred embodiments thereof. Many variations and modifications of the principles of my invention within the scope of the description herein are obvious. Accordingly, I prefer to be bound not by the specific disclosure herein but only by the appending claim.

I claim:

A portable tool for spinning inaccessible ends of metal eyelets comprising a rotatably driven shaft, a first sleeve, a second sleeve, a manually operable earn, a first roller and a second roller; said first sleeve slidably mounted relative to said driven shaft; said first roller mounted on said first sleeve; said second sleeve slidably mounted relative to said driven shaft; said manually operated cam pivotally mounted on said second sleeve; spring means to maintain said cam in surface to surface engagement with said first roller; said second roller positioned on one end of said driven shaft; said manually operable cam effective to move said second sleeve away from said first sleeve against the bias of said spring means; a stop member mounted on said driven shaft; said second sleeve positioned to engage the surface of said stop member when said cam is manually operated to thereby move said second roller from a. position forwardly removed from said first sleeve to a similar position less removed from said sleeve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,468,662 Gifford Sept. 25, 1923 2,578,619 Wiesmann Dec. ll. 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 541,263 France Apr. 29, 1922 

